Versa inaccurate GPS tracking

[Dorispen]

I have used my versa for 2 years now and in the last three months, the gps tracking is not showing an accurate distance. I have used a different fitbit and it's doing the same. I have checked the distance with google maps and it's definitely off and I use the same track every day. How do I reslove this please as it's very annoying!

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[edddddddddddddd]

Hi Andrea

Thanks for the reply. Yes, mine is set to step as it is my main goal. I
can't think of any logical reason why changing the goal should work or why
it wouldn't have been picked up long before now but I'll sure give it a try
and report back!

Ed

[cpm2002]

Thank you Andrea, I have a Versa Lite but it has a similar setting so I will give it a try!

Will keep you posted,

Chris

[edddddddddddddd]

Hi Andrea,

Well I've tried what you suggested and it hasn't resolved the problem for me although it has shed some light on what I think the problem is.

Firstly, I've tried running both my Fitbit and Map my Ride on my phone together 3 times: a 5 mile walk, an 8 mile walk and an 19 mile cycle ride. On the first walk it was about half a mile short, the second walk was correct (😀) but the cycle ride was 6 miles short (😓). Looking at the map of the ride, although I rode virtually the same route out and back the big difference was that for a large chunk of the ride on the way back my route shows as a dead straight line. What I think happened is that where the straight section starts it lost connection to my phone until the end of the straight line, when it reconnected and just jumped straight from one point to the next, either missing out on all the twists and turns on the way or not counting this section at all. 

My experience over the years has been that the Bluetooth connection between the watch and phone has always been a bit haphazard through several phones and watches, even to the point where I wondered if Fitbit did this intentionally to make me upgrade after a couple of years! 

So I don't think there is a resolution to this and it maybe explains why Fitbit are very quiet despite all the complaints and why they now have GPS built in. Maybe Fitbit will offer a free upgrade to a new watch with GPS? I don't think so! Its a shame because I've always liked the features it comes with and the slim design is excellent but if it can't do the basics properly it's just a pedometer.

[Caandjon]

Me too. I want to stamp on it. Just recorded what I know is 5k as 3k very frustrating

[Caandjon]

Anyone had any luck complaining abd returning tge fitbit as faulty because of this issue? For me, makes it worse than useless

[edddddddddddddd]

I wish you luck! It will probably depend on how long ago you bought it but previous contributors seem to have managed it.

[motamman]

Definitely not solved.

I believe Fitbit devices underestimate distance in the northern hemisphere and, perhaps. overestimate in the southern hemisphere. I have been running and biking with a Versa and Sense along with a Wahoo HR monitor for a few years. Typically, I use the HR monitor and Wahoo synced to strava as my primary tracker and I do that because I never trusted the distance measurements with the Versa. It always seems short, at least when I run north of the equator.

Recently I bought a Sense, hoping the internal GPS would vanquish the distance issue. It hasn't.

My run in New York yesterday was typical:

4.7 miles on Wahoo/Strava

4.62 on Fitbit/Sense
Dec. 13, New York:
4.52 on Wahoo/Strava
4.42 od FitBit/Sense

Here are a few other Versa examples.

July 16 in CT:

4.19 Wahoo/Strava

4.01 Fitbit/Versa

June 18 in CT:

14.73 on Wahoo/Strava

13.19 on Fitbit/Versa

Last autumn, I visited NZ and Aus,  and something odd happened. Fitbit reported my distance was longer than Wahoo/Strava.

Oct. 30, 2019, in Melbourne, Aus:

4.28 Wahoo/Strava

5.09 Fitbit/Versa

Nov. 4, 2010, near Christchurch, NZ:

5.6 Wahoo/Strava

6.24 Fitbit/Versa

The Fitbit folks won't engage with me on this. They don't compare, apparently. I don't dismiss the possibility that Fitbit is correct and Wahoo/Strava is wrong but I tend to doubt it as I independently tested a few runs and they line up pretty closely with Wahoo/Strava.

Does anyone else have any experience with this? Could one service or the other be using a constant in their algorithm that increases errors as you move away from the equator? I am guessing.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter to me. I will keep using the Sense as a backup but I assume others don't have that luxury.

Pax,

Mo

[SunsetRunner]

• I've had similar issues. My fitbit charge 3 is way under tracking what I run and also is inaccurately recording my run. It will have me running routes I've never ran or crossing into a river. Very glitchy and very frustrating. I don't know how to fix this. 

[astroandrea]

Hi Toddlight, hi guys,

Changing the main goal from steps to distance worked for me.

The distance was pretty accurate after that. However countless problems in whatever else.

The watch was randomly rebooting, recording half the track when cycling, wrong lengths when swimming...

Online support basically inexistent or incompetent.

I finally changed to a Garmin Fenix 6 and started enjoying having an activity watch.

And I would advise the same to anyone else with these crappy fitbits...

One of the worst experience ever.

Best, 

Andrea

[Jocelyn74]

Same issue. My husband has the same watch, we run the same amount of time (I’m usually a little faster) and exact same distance. At the end of the run he always has a longer distance and shorter time. We’ve started comparing pace and distance during our runs, it’s off from the start. It’s so frustrating! 😞

[edddddddddddddd]

Sorry to hear that, its very frustrating isn't it. Out of interest do you
have built in GPS on your fitbit or do you have to connect to your phone?

[Teedy2]

I connect through my cell phone.

[Teedy2]

I'm so sorry to hear that.... wished the issue was resolved by now. Good Luck to you and your husband. 

[Jocelyn74]

I have the Versa 2 don’t think it does. I have a really hard tie gauging my
pace and distance, and my husband who has an older iPhone is always
“faster” and “farther”, even when I get gone first on the same route. I
just don’t feel I’m getting a good read which is frustrating --
Jocelyn Strauss
520-429-0915
petunia5@email.arizona.edu